SMM Aluminum Market Daily Review (2014-7-31)

SHANGHAI, Aug. 1 (SMM) –On Wednesday night, SHFE 1410 aluminum contract jumped to RMB 14,145/mt after starting at RMB 14,055/mt, and finished the night session at RMB 14,110/mt. Trading volumes totaled 64,016 lots, with positions up 2,966 lots to 157,560 lots.  

 

On Thursday, the most active contract struggled near the daily moving average for most of the day before closing at an intraday high of RMB 14,145/mt, spurred by a bout of buying at the tail of the session. Trading volumes totaled 52,102 lots, with positions up 2,960 lots to 160,540 lots. Bullish sentiment is expected to help the contract stay at above RMB 14,000/mt. 

 

Spot aluminum largely traded between RMB 13,970-13,980/mt in Shanghai on Thursday, a discount of RMB 60-70/mt over SHFE 1408 aluminum contract. Mainstream traded prices were RMB 13,970-13,990/mt in Wuxi and RMB 13,990-14,000/mt in Hangzhou. Sellers asked for higher prices after August aluminum on the SHFE rebounded above RMB 14,000/mt. Traders were little interested in buying out of bearishness, while downstream producers bought only to need against cash squeeze at the month’s end. In the afternoon, most sellers held back after SHFE 1410 aluminum drifted higher, while traders became more willing to buy.